Part of Criminal Justice Bill – in a Public Bill Committee am 2:30 pm ar 27 Chwefror 2003.
Hilary Benn
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office) (Minister for Prisons and Probation)
2:30,
27 Chwefror 2003
This is the third opportunity that the Committee has had to debate fines, so I shall be mercifully brief. I confirm what the hon. Gentleman said about the significant decline in the number of fine defaulters imprisoned in the past decade. I endorse
what he and the hon. Member for Beaconsfield (Mr. Grieve) said about the importance of maintaining and enhancing the credibility of fines as a penalty and the Government are proposing measures in the Courts Bill to that effect, including clamping vehicles, which the hon. Member for Rayleigh raised in the debate on his Amendment. We will reflect on whether those measures are successful, learn from them, apply them more widely and then reflect further on them. It is important that fines should have credibility as part of the criminal justice system.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause read a Second time, and added to the Bill.
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